Bank of Istalia
The Bank of Istalia, known in Istalian as La Banca d'Istalia, is the central bank of Istalia. It is an independent institution responsible for maintaining the stability of the financial system, for issuing all banknotes and coins in the country, overseeing and regulating the banking sector, keeping the government's currency reserves and act as lender of last resort for the istalian banking system. The Bank of Istalia is also the sole owner of the Istalian Mint. Other functions include, market supervision, oversight of the payment system and provision of settlement services, State treasury service, Central Credit Register, economic analysis and institutional consultancy. The Bank is headed by a Governor (Istalian: Governatore) appointed by the President on advice of the Cabinet of Ministers and in particular of the Minister of Finance but he is by several other governing bodies. Currently the Government reteins the right and duty to appoint the head of the central bank, together with an executive board (the Directorate) but the Law states that it cannot interfere in the bank's operations. The governor's office is located in Aldobrandi Palace which is the head office of the Bank of Istalia from which depends all the subsidiaries on the national territory. =History= The current Bank of Istalia was reorganized in June 4038 during the liberalization of the banking sector where, previously, the State operated large, national banks, allowing just small community based private banks. During the brief Battistian dictature the State nationalized all the Istalian banks while the central bank, if it continued to exist, was stripped of his power which was transfered in the hand of the dicatorial government. After the Istalian Civil War and the re-democratization of the country, the banking system was once again liberalized and the Bank of Istalia returned to be the veritable financial authority of Istalia, but still under the direct oversight of the Ministry of Finance. In 4262, finally, with the D.d.l. 02/4261 - Central Bank Independence Act Bank of Istalia became a fully indipendent public institution with the Government retaining just the right to appoints the head of the central bank and an executive board while was forbidden any interference with its operations to contrast excessive politicization and exploitation of the institution for particular goals by part of the ruling political forces. =Organization= Governing bodies The Bank's governing bodies are the General Meeting of Shareholders, the Board of Directors, the Governor, the Director General and three Deputy Directors General. The last five constitute the Directorate. The general meeting takes place yearly and with the purpose of approving accounts and appointing the auditors. The Board of Directors has administrative powers and is chaired by the Governor who has not the exclusive responsibility regarding decisions of external relevance (i.e. banking and financial supervision), which rely to the Directorate (by majority vote). The Director General is responsible for the day-to-day administration of the bank, and acts as governor when absent. Appointment The Directorate's term of office lasts five years and is renewable once. The appointment of the governor is the responsibility of the Government, head of the Board of Directors, with the approval of the President. The Board of Directors is elected by the shareholders according to the bank statute. =Shareholders= Bank of Istalia had 300,000 shares with a nominal value of 17,000 LIS. The status of the bank states that a minimum of 54% of profits would go to the Istalian government, and only a maximum of 6% of profits would distributed as dividends according to shares ratio. The status furthermore states that only banks, insurance and social security companies or institutions based in Istalia can be bank's shareholders. Despite the shares of the Bank are owned by private institutions, the Bank remain a body governed by the public law (Istalian: Istituto di diritto pubblico) so, the ownership can therefore be private subjects but the management has a public role, such as tasks and powers and, finally, the status states that the governing bodies elected by the shareholders cannot interfere with the public functions attributed to the Governor and the Bank by the Istalian laws. Category:Banking and financial services Category:Banking Category:Istalia